The Weekend FT is just about the best international airport read there is. There is the extravagantly punctuated Tyler Brûlé as columnist to get the blood pumping and the book reviews are good. The wine column is often too expensive, Australian or French for my palate but the Sunday before last I was looking forward to Russia’s Wild World of Wine for something different.

I struggled through the big-noting introduction of Jancis Robinson: “I got into an unseemly tussle with my assistant as to who should accept this invitation from Fanagoria, Myskhako and Sauk Dere wineries. Both of us are keen travellers [sic] and were intrigued by the prospect of being the first western-based wine writer to look at post-Soviet viticulture on the Black Sea coast. I am afraid to say that I pulled rank.”

Which was a pity, as for Mrs. Robinson’s impressions on the wines of Messrs Fanagoria, Myskhako and Sauk Dere the FT cops out with a “see tasting notes on Russian wines on purple pages of www.jancisrobinson.com.” For which you need to shell out $99 a year. A curious business model indeed for the FT and frustrating for this reader, to say the least. It’s also not quite cricket for Messrs Fanagoria, Myskhako and Sauk Dere who presumably picked up the bill in the hope of some exposure. If I’d paid for the paper, I would have asked for my money back.

But perhaps I’m jumping to conclusions and JR’s tasting notes “fell off the page” thanks to the opthalmic introduction and a late placed ad competing for space. The vinous analogy of the proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem which was too small for Fermat to include in the margin of the book he was reading and caused mathematicians four centuries of headaches.

Mrs. Robinson flew to the Kuban Crimea, which reminded me of an interview with Igor Serdyuk, son of a Kuban Cossack and editor of Magnum, a Moscow wine and spirit monthly magazine. He was in SA to judge the Swiss International Airline Wine Awards (now defunct) chaired by Robert Joseph back in 2007. An interview of that vintage appeared in the Sunday Times and is now reposted on this blog, free of charge.

Igor Serdyuk

Q: What is the perception of SA wines in Moscow?

A: SA has a very positive image in Russia as a beautiful country worth visiting, although too far away. We don’t really think of SA as a wine producer, so some work needs to be done on improving the image of SA wine in Russia.

Q: So SA wine brands are relative unknowns to you?

A: Yes, with the exception of Rupert & Rothschild, which has a top image, thanks to their importer and the Rothschild connection, and a very few inexpensive supermarket wines. I met Baroness Nadine at her Château Clarke in Bordeaux and she is a marvelous lady. I got on well with her – perhaps because she is Jewish and my mother was an Armenian Jewess. My father was a Kuban Cossak so what am I? I think I’m Russian. But we’re all looking for identity after the collapse of the Soviet Union. A bit like SA really, after your momentous changes.

Q: So some parallels between SA and Russia then?

A: Indeed. Both countries are seen (unfairly) as risky investment destinations. Both are very large countries with many landscapes, climates, deserts and mountains. We’re both in transition and our preferences, for many things including wine, have yet to be decided.

Q: Do the high alcohols of some SA wines worry you?

A: Given our love of Vodka, Russians are not scared of alcohol. Although to be classified as wine, the alcohol level needs to be less than 13%, but the authorities are fairly tolerant on this – just don’t make a big deal of it on your labels.

Q: Your favourite wines from the 2007 Swiss International Airline competition you were judging?

A: The Akkerdal Wild Boar 2005 Bordeaux blend is excellent as is the Plaisir de Merle Chardonnay 2006. The wooded Sauvignon Blanc from Bellingham (the Maverick 2006) is also great although I thought the Deetlefs Oak Matured Pinotage 2005 (which won an award for Top Pinotage) needs more elegance for my taste – it needs a more European direction. But this award was given by all the judges, so that’s democracy for you. Overall, I have a very good feeling about South Africa and it’s getting better and better.

No related posts.

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.